And that’s a conservative depiction of potential viewership when you consider how many people are going to stream the event this year and the flood of tweets that'll come from those following along on Twitter.

It’s not just the Super Bowl—the Grammys, the Oscars, and other high-profile events all present great opportunities for brands to be part of big conversations.

But the reason you should follow these events, even if you've got no interest in them, is because they tend to produce some of the best opportunities for real-time marketing,or “moment marketing”, where brands race to position themselves to be part of the buzz as it happens.

Why are these events so good at creating viral conversations? Because we expect something buzz-worthy to come out of them. In a way, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Whether it's the ads or the half-time shows or something a celebrity did or, on the off-chance, something to do with the main event itself, we look forward to having something to collectively talk about.

Think about all the minor things that go viral at these sort of events. Like that face Leonardo Dicaprio made at Lady Gaga at the Golden Globes.

We look for things to blow up and out of proportion, and it's become such a reliable cultural phenomenon that brands are positioning themselves to react to whatever we collectively choose to focus on.

And the best part is, you can be ready for it too.

How to Ride the Trend of the Day Minute

The people of the Internet have a much shorter attention span than we used to. Or rather, there's just way more information being thrown at us now.

Either way, what was once 15 minutes of fame now seems like barely 5.

But with the advent of social media, and now live streaming services such as Periscope, that brief spike of interest is sharper than ever and brands are trying to jump on board.

Speed is the name of the game, but luckily you’ve got a not-so-secret weapon in your pocket:

Humor lets you compete with the big brands because it's super-shareable on social media. Being funny can be a good way to get exposure if you can nail the digital equivalent of comedic timing to ensure your joke takes off.

Like Quaker, don't be afraid to jump into the conversation and engage with others who are attracting attention if you see an opportunity to do so.

Remember that you've got a link to your website in your profile and your bio describes what you're about, so there's really no need to sell in the conversation itself.

Be an Active Participant By Live Tweeting/Streaming

We live in a time when anyone can cover an event and share it with the world.

Live tweeting and streaming under your brand is an effective approach regardless of the scale of the event because when you're actively participating in it, you've got more chances to be seen.

In fact, if you can be a part of an event in your niche, it's probably better to do so since the people you reach will be more relevant to your brand.

Live tweeting is easy to do and every retweet using the appropriate hashtag expands your reach further while giving your existing audience something to follow along with.

With Twitter polls you can even elicit feedback from others who are following the hashtag and engage people in a more interactive way.

Imagine you've got a business that sells gear for gamers and you live tweet the #GamesDoneQuick conference where gamers gather to watch people do speed-runs of popular video games for charity.

Just being active and authentic on this hashtag earns you a presence and maybe even some followers and click-throughs to your profile from all the right people.

Consider using Hootsuite for live tweeting, so you monitor several hashtags or profiles on different channels in one dashboard, engaging with these conversations in real-time at a scale that most casual tweeters won't.

Look For Real-Time Opportunities On The Horizon

Sure, these events are usually noisy but they afford you the chance to be in the right place at the right time when people from all over are watching.

While you can ride hashtags, viral trends, and the like as they happen in the moment, popular events— like the Super Bowl and even niche events that appeal directly to your customers—provide enough warning for you to dig your heels in and take full advantage of these opportunities as they come.

Just because you can't predict the future with real-time marketing, doesn't mean you can't be ready for it.

About The Author

Braveen Kumar is a Content Crafter at Shopify where he develops resources to empower entrepreneurs to start and succeed in business. Follow @braveeenk